The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday voted for the 28th consecutive year to adopt a resolution condemning the six-decade U.S. economic embargo that has strangled Cuba's economy and caused widespread human suffering.
The final vote was 187-3, with Israel and Brazil joining the U.S. as the only nations opposed to the resolution. Colombia and Ukraine abstained and Moldova did not vote.
Bruno Rodríguez, Cuba's foreign minister, told the General Assembly following the vote that the Trump administration has "aggressively intensified" the devastating embargo, which he said "qualifies as an act of genocide." The Obama administration took steps to alleviate the embargo and normalize U.S.-Cuba relations, but the Trump White House has reversed course and imposed punishing new sanctions.
"The blockade has caused incalculable humanitarian damages. It is a flagrant, massive, and systematic violation of human rights," said Rodríguez. "There is not one single Cuban family that has not suffered the consequences of this."
On Thursday the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution condemning and calling for an end to Washington's economic embargo on Cuba. pic.twitter.com/dJlzihr2pM
— ANews (@anewscomtr) November 8, 2019
Keisha McGuire, Grenada's ambassador to the U.N., echoed Rodríguez's condemnation of the blockade and noted that Cuba was one of the first nations to assist The Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian struck in September.
"We view the embargo not just as a punitive act against Cuba, but as an impediment to our shared regional development," McGuire told the General Assembly. "Opposition to this policy is now almost universal in nature."
